RDBA Members Gain Valuable Insights at the Healthy Beverage Expo

According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, adults and children consume about 400 calories a day from beverages. This makes messaging and merchandising related to healthier beverage options an important element of the work of retail dietitians.

Understanding the role that beverages play in your work as well as in the business side of the retail industry, RDBA partnered with World Tea Media on a special opportunity for our members – complimentary attendance at the first annual Healthy Beverage Expo, held earlier this month in Las Vegas. Three lucky RDBA members had the opportunity to attend the show, and today are sharing their learnings from the show with you.

As a retail dietitian, the Healthy Beverage Expo allowed me to explore new beverage products that I know my clients and customers will be asking about in the near future. Attending a few of the educational sessions also allowed me to better understand some of the goals and objectives many individuals and organizations within the beverage industry have and the role dietitians may play as they continue to work towards meeting the demands of today's consumer. I would highly recommend that dietitians attend conferences like this as often as they can to become better informed about the multitude of products being added to our store shelves. Not only does it allow for open communication between us and our customers, it also allows for communication between us and brands. This is crucial if we want consistent, fact-based messaging to be shared with those who make food decisions daily in the grocery store aisle.

The Healthy Beverage Expo was an amazing opportunity to explore new products and learn from a diverse group of professionals. As a Retail Dietitian, it was exciting to experience all of the beverage options that I can now feel comfortable recommending to customers as a healthy alternative.

The conference sessions allowed me to gain a tremendous amount of insight into the current trends that shape the beverage market. I was glad to see a shift away from super-sweetened drinks and a push for more natural ingredients with unique flavors, ingredients, and textures.

The Beverage Expo was a great environment to share my experience as an in-store Retail Dietitian. Beverage professionals from various backgrounds were eager to learn about the impact that retail dietitians have on influencing healthier choices at the supermarket. Being able to field so many diverse questions was a great way to demonstrate how much knowledge a retail dietitian is able to gain in areas of business that we would otherwise not have exposure to in more traditional roles.

The Healthy Beverage Expo was incredibly beneficial to my role as a retail dietitian, as I was able to learn about upcoming trends in drinks allowing me the opportunity to tailor the products I bring in and the events I host around this information. Also, it was incredibly helpful to taste new products and talk to the vendors to learn even more about the benefits even before the products hit shelves. Possibly most important, I now have even more knowledge I can share with my customers about the labeling of certain products to help them make the most informed decision for themselves and their family.